Ties of Love, Ties of Blood
by Lady Maria
Summary: X-over w X-Men. Buffy was never the Slayer and the whole gang's human or mutant. Buffy, or Autumn as she's known, is the teenage leader of a gang of street mutants. But that's only the beginning... On Hold, but will be continued
1. Prologue

**A/N: I started this story as a totally different story, which I'm posting today as well but I started to ponder a couple of what-ifs. In this fic, the entire Scooby gang is human, but I'm almost positive that 99.9% of them will end up being mutants. The girl we know and love as the Slayer will be a rough and tumble street girl that just so happens to be a mutant. I don't know about X-Men, so forgive me my mistakes but I'm trying. The other story I'm posting today has a similar prologue but instead of being a mutant Buffy is the Slayer.  Go read it if you like unusual crossover stories. Read and review please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Maria**

Prologue

L.A., 1989

"Don't leave me!!!!!!" the frightened five year shrieked. Her mother and her aunt looked at her sharply, each with a slightly different expression. Her mother, Melissa Summers, looked disgusted by this display of emotion. Melissa loved her sons dearly, but hated her only daughter.  

Elisabeth may have only been five, but she had long since shown an amazing I.Q. which extended to having realized that Melissa hated her and there was nothing she could do about it. However, when Beth had just been dragged half-way across the country and separated from her two best friends who just so happen to be her older and twin brothers…well can you blame her?  

The look on Joyce Summers' face was different than that of her sister-in-law's.  Joyce felt disgust also, but it was towards this woman who was giving up the most remarkable gift that God could give a woman and all Melissa felt about it was disgust. Disgust towards her **daughter.  Joyce had never had children and wouldn't ever have any other than this little one, so she couldn't understand the other Summers woman. Technically, she'd never understood Melissa but that had just been differences of opinion. This was a matter of what was morally right and what was wrong.**

Beth was just plain old confused as her Auntie Joyce pulled her to her side and smiled.  It wasn't the hate-filled smirk that her mother always gave her but was filled with love instead.  

"You're my daughter, now," Joyce told her quietly. "And your new Daddy and I are going to make certain that you are the most loved little girl in California."  

As Joyce finished talking, Melissa glanced back at the small blonde and thought to herself, _I am **so** glad I'm finally rid of that brat. The boys are better children any day and they don't misbehave or are all around brats. Besides, there's something off about that girl.  I **won't **be a mother to a…a…**freak, **or **whatever she is!**_

Melissa Summers didn't know it, that long-ago day, as she walked out of Beth's life, but her prejudices had just destroyed all hope of a relationship with any of her children.  The years would pass, and Beth would become Buffy, the heart-daughter of Hank and Joyce and then, in a terrible twist of destiny, Autumn, child of the streets. And her sons would never quite forgive her for taking their sister away. And it didn't help matters any that Melissa clung to her prejudice of people who weren't exactly like every else for the simple fact that her sons were as different as her daughter.  A single prejudice would leave scars that would tear the Summers family apart from the inside out…


	2. Meeting Willow

**A/N: once again, completely AU and I've taken liberties with the characters. **

**Words inside of :: mean thoughts or telepathic communications, italicized words are words spoken in another language and words in quotation marks are normal conversations.   Also, I know that one has to be 18 before becoming a member of the X-Men but I've changed the age to 16 to 17.**

Chapter 1

Westchester, NY

1998

Twenty year old Scott Summers listened patiently to Professor Charles Xavier's explanation of the newest student's abilities. "She can shoot plant life from her hands, heal plants and other vegetation,** and hear what the earth is saying?" he asked incredulously. While each mutant had an ability that was unique, he'd never even heard of any mutations similar to this one.  **

"Yes," his mentor said simply. "I just can't figure out why she has escaped being detected by Cerebro before now.  She seems very powerful—and in control of those powers."

"Which indicates that she has probably been a mutant for a while and hidden it," Scott finished. "When is she supposed to be here?" 

"Willow is due to arrive in half an hour." Xavier paused, trying to figure out how to explain to his foster son that she was a street kid, much like he had been when he'd first arrived at the Institute, except, Xavier knew that Scott had abhorred selling himself and had tried to avoid it as much as was possible.  As far he knew Willow had been a hooker for quite awhile and had even objected when Social Services had pulled her off the streets.

"What's her background?" Scott asked, knowing that most mutants lived on the streets for a couple of days, but some were there much longer.  One of his favorite students, Rogue, had been the former; he'd been the latter.  He had been a street kid from the time he was fourteen until a month and a half before his sixteenth birthday. His parents had tossed him out after he'd burned down the gym, and every time he'd opened his eyes, he'd shot laser beams from his eyes. Where else could he go?

 "I know, Scott," his mentor's voice broke his concentration on the past. "I really don't know much about Willow but I do know she has been a prostitute for a few years.  I also know that at the very most, she's sixteen."

"I'm turning fifteen in three months," a female voice interrupted them. Standing in the doorway was a slender teenager, her red hair straight but slightly messy.  What really bothered both adults was the blatant weariness in her eyes. "I'll come right out and tell you that my given name is Willow Rosenberg, I have a fraternal twin, and I've spent long stretches of time on the streets since I was six." 

Scott and Xavier's mouths dropped in unison, even before her next words. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't know **exactly what the…the…****THAT SYSTEM…is like.  And yes, I want peace as much as the next mutant, but I don't believe in giving the villains second chances." **

Although Xavier was completely taken aback by this blunt, to-the-point teenage mutant, Scott couldn't help but be drawn to her.  "I'm Scott. Have you always been so straight forward, Miss Rosenberg?"

Now she blushed, and stammered, "I was just trying to prevent confusion. And please don't call me Miss Rosenberg. I haven't been a member of that family since I was six years old, and I'm not going to go back to being a Rosenberg nine years later. Willow is just fine.  Absolutely, positively fine, umm hmm."

The older mutants had to laugh at her babbling explanation. Professor Xavier smiled at her, which instead of calming her, terrified the teenager. Scott noticed Willow's reaction and observed, "You couldn't possibly have been this frightened of men your entire life.  But even if you don't believe us, no one here will ever hurt you.  Please trust us." 

"Trust you?" the jaded redhead asked scornfully. "Why should I trust a member of the sex I have nothing but contempt for?  I don't believe the words of men, and I don't believe that I should."

"Fair enough," Scott nodded, "but will you at least give the female half of this school a chance?"

As Willow contemplated his proposition, Ororo Munroe walked in. Storm looked strange to Willow, with her white hair and dark skin, but her presence seemed to comfort her.  "Hello," Storm greeted her. "You must be the new student. I'm one of the professors, Ororo Munroe. The students here—"

"We call her Storm," a teenage girl broke in. "She can create storms, so the nickname fits.  I'm Rogue, you are…?"

"I'm Willow but I don't give a damn what you call me."  The street girl that hovered right under the surface of her façade emerged again, her manner cold and unyielding.

"What's your mutation?" Rogue tried again.

"I've got a way with plants.  I can heal them, shoot 'em out of my hands and hear what da earth is saying."

Storm looked at Rogue, wondering what the 15 year old would pick for Willow's code name. "Well," she drawled, "What about Nature?"

"Hell no!" Willow exclaimed, her eyes wide…with fear? Scott realized.  He recalled the legends he'd heard about a mutant street gang during his time on the street. The leader was a young girl called Autumn and her second-in-command was a mutant by the codename of Nature.  Could this girl have been a…what had they been called again…a Scooby? That was it. Could she have been a Scooby, or even less likely, the mutant called Nature?

"Alright," Storm said, "if you don't like that name, how about Forest?"

"Forest," she said, trying it out. "I like it. Thank you, Professor Munroe."

"Forest, call me Storm. As Rogue said, it's what everyone calls me."

"Agreed, Pro—Storm," the girl who'd once been Nature grinned for the first time in more years than she could recall. 


	3. Enemies

**A/N: This takes place about two years after Chapter 1.  During that time, Willow Forest has been fitting in, but an old enemy has come back and it's going to take everything she's made of to overcome the memories.  I meant to have this set sooner and then realized that the confrontation would loose some of its edge if it was too soon.**

**Also, I'm sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've got baton practice, and choir trips and homework, and school, and somewhere in there I have to sleep.**

Chapter 2

"Hey, girl!" Jubilee Lee greeted her friend. Because neither of them had classes together, they didn't see each other all that often but when they did, everyone ran in fear. The sad thing was that they **literally **ran for their lives. And all they were afraid of were three teenage girls. Well granted, Logan always stuck around the "crazy psycho girls" as Scott had dubbed them.  But that was just because he was just as insane as them.

Forest had made the transition to being one of Xavier's students remarkably well, although Jubilee and Rogue, because they were her roommates, could have told you that something made her have horrible nightmares. Neither of them ever pressed the girl they often teased by calling Willow Forest. 

Jubilee couldn't help but worry about her friend because she'd been on the streets herself, years before.  Jubilee watched her now, her red hair flying every which way as she skipped in a circle around Rogue.  "Wills, do you believe in destiny?" Jubilee asked her seriously. 

Willow paused; debating the question for a few moments, until she finally had to sigh. "I believe that God has a plan for all of us, yes.  But an actual destiny? Of that I'm not certain."

"I didn't realize you were a Christian," Rouge drawled.  Of the three of them, she tended to be the calmest—which wasn't saying a lot considering the fact that she was currently hovering four feet off of the ground.

"Gotta believe in something out there," the redhead shrugged.  _Sides, the Scoobies haven't survived this long without Divine Intervention, she muttered in Spanish._

"What did you say?" Logan had been passing through and overheard the muttered comment. 

"I didn't say nothing," she snapped.

Before anyone could say anything about the blatant lie—or about the bad grammar—Professor Xavier passed them. "We have a new student.  His name's Jesse Santiago.  Come on, I want you all to meet him."

Willow Forest could only stare at him. Her mind was back nearly a decade recalling her first meeting with the boy who would become her best friend.  

**Hi. I'm Willow.  Who're you?**

**I'm Jesse Santiago.**

**You're new, she'd observed. You still wear a last name and you ain't got scars.**

That had been when they were seven. A year later they'd ran away with her brother, Liam, and a semi-new girl named Elisabeth. The four of them were the founding members of the Scoobies and they'd always been damn proud of the fact.  But she hadn't seen Jesse in over two years.

********

"Professor," Willow said timidly. "Professor."

"Yes, Willow?" 

"I think you should try getting into Jesse's mind." Willow knew damn well that that wasn't her old friend in there and she was almost certain she knew who it was.

"Willow, I'm not certain why this is so worrying to you but as far as his memories state, that is Jesse Santiago in the lunch room."

"Thank you, sir," she said dutifully. Inside, however, she was seething with rage.  Willow knew exactly who the threat was this time and she wasn't going to be a pushover when it came time to deal with her.

********

Upon entering the lunch room, Willow had to concentrate as hard as she could to keep from revealing her presence. However, it was too soon to tip her hand and she knew it.  "Hello," she said calmly, walking up to where "Jesse" was sitting.  "I don't believe we've met.  I'm yours for the taking, who are you?"

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stared.  Scott started to get up until Xavier motioned for him to sit back down. "Willow was concerned about who he was. I'm not positive but I believe that she knows something that we don't." 

As for Willow, she was oblivious to all of this.  Nature had been the best in her league, the one you went to if you had something you wanted handled uniquely.  Willow may not have been Nature anymore but she was still the best. "I'm waiting," the seductress said silkily. 

As for the person everyone else thought was Jesse, she was deeply shaken. "Damn you, Nature!" she called out, her voice starting to change, to become more feminine. "Damn you to everlasting suffering in the pits of Hell!"

"You're just upset that I pulled one over on you," Willow said calmly, still unaware of the people who were intently watching the strange drama.  "Didn't you figure that someone would see through you?"

"I'm just as good as you and Magneto trusts me to handle it!"

"But you didn't plan on running into me. Did you, Mystique?" Her voice was edgier than any of the X-Men had ever heard it, taking on a sharp tone that seemed like it belonged there. 

Everyone started to jump up when she mentioned the shape-shifter's name but sat down again at a command from Xavier. Logan especially couldn't help but wonder what information she had about the shifter and why he hadn't smelled Mystique.

"No, I didn't…little sister.  But that's alright because my master has been aching for new recruits."  Mystique had finished her transformation into her typical form.

Willow faced the woman who was her half-sister and her most dangerous enemy as she shot vines from her hands. "He'll never get this girl as a recruit.  I started as a Scooby—as did you. But I stayed on the side of good and you strayed. I almost regret the fact that the rules dictate what has to happen to a traitor." 

"Then don't do it," Mystique suggested, for she too knew the rules. She also knew that the vines that were wound around her bound her powers.  

At the adults' table, Xavier looked at Scott. "I know you mentioned wondering if she might have been a member of the 'Scooby Gang'.  As you knew what it was, perhaps you know what the rules are?"

Scott nodded. "The founding members of the Gang didn't want anyone defecting to join Magneto's side. Because of that, they made the rule that if a member did turn from good, they would be killed as soon as a member caught up with them."

"Killed?" Xavier gasped in horror. "Willow!"

She turned around, trailing her captive behind her. "If you don't like the Gang's way of dealing with traitors, fine, but don't try to get me to not kill her."

Jubilee stood up then, clearing her throat. "The rules have always been clear, Professor." 

"Excuse me?!" the majority of the school chorused in unison.

"I was a floater," she said with a shrug. "I mainly worked demolitions, but occasionally worked with the assassination team." 

"I knew I knew you from somewhere!" Willow said, connecting the dots. "Professor, because you have such problems with me killing, I'm calling a friend for help."

::Tumn? Are you there?:: She reached out with the telepathic channel Autumn had left in her brain years before. 

::About damn time you contacted me!:: The reprimand was sharp, but the affection was there, hidden beneath Autumn's bitchy exterior.  ::Where the hell are you, girl?  All of the newbies are hopeless when it comes to killing.::

::That's actually why I contacted you.  I've got Mystique tangled up, but the Professor won't let me kill her.::

::You've got to be kidding me!:: 

::No, will you send Lorne?::

::Of course. And I'll even come with him.::

::Awesome, Autumn.::

Turning back to the group, Willow announced, "My friends will be here momentarily.  They will take care of…this little problem."

A/N: It'll take a few days, perhaps weeks for me to update again. I'm sorry but my life seems like it's just one big race…that won't end.


	4. A Good Fight

**A/N: Hope you like this chapter. See, I'm trying to hurry. Next week's Hell week but this one's almost relaxing…**

Chapter 3

Following her announcement, the majority of the population of Xavier's stared slack-jawed at Willow.  Willow couldn't help but snicker. The woman she had been before coming to the school had started to take over again, ousting the one that didn't even like a good fight. 

Rogue was the first to speak up.  "How did you contact these people, Willow?" 

Yes," Scott said with a smirk, "how did you contact them?  As far as we know, Miss Forest, you are not telepathic."

"Lay the fuck off her!" Someone had just appeared in the Institute, and from her voice she wasn't very happy. "You might say that she got into contact with me using my own gift."

"No disemboweling them, Tumn.  It's not like I've been Miss Honesty with them.  Can you blame them for interrogation?"  To the other residents of the mansion, it was like Willow was rapidly disappearing while someone else took her place.

"Babycakes, Autumn just isn't happy about the X-Men being here and stifling the hunter we all know lies in your heart," Lorne spoke for the first time, attracting the others' stares.

"Lorne! You do realize you smell like sex?" Nature asked, all tact gone.  

Autumn snickered, and piped up, "He got **horny**, **horny, and did I mention** horny**!  So, he went and got laid by the first person he found." **

While the Xavier's students were confused, Mystique chuckled. "I'd be surprised if whoever he fucked is female."

"Hey!" the blonde yelped. "I may bat for both sides but I'm still female!"

Nature started laughing, soon joined by four new people.  Like the first two, they just appeared with a small pop.  Nightcrawler and the others who noticed the newest arrivals just stared.  The guy who teleported the other three in looked exactly like the green guy with red horns that Willow had called Lorne.  And somehow, Nightcrawler didn't think they were twins. 

Knowing her two friends, Nature knew that they wouldn't be laughing. Needless to say, she was very surprised to hear people laughing with her since she knew that the others at the school wouldn't get the joke.  Whirling around, she gasped and started babbling in Spanish. _Shifter, Angel, Gambit…Jesse! What are you guys doing here?  Jesse, why aren't you dead?! You're supposed to be dead, that's the way she works. You know it, I know it, hell!  Logan knows it!_

"Chill out, baby sister," Angel, also known as Liam Rosenberg, said grabbing her easily. 

"Yeah, chill.  Nay, you're kinda stuck with us while we re-bond with you," Shifter, real name Xander, said with a wry grin as he shifted back into his normal form. Dark and handsome, Nature would have gone out with him if they didn't both swing in opposite directions.

Jesse Santiago contented himself with listening to the girl he'd been best friends with for so long. Before long however, he could feel her rage directed towards him.  "And your story is??? Because, hon, everyone knows that Mystique fills in for the **PEOPLE SHE KILLS!"**

"Nature, Willow, Red!" As her anger grew, he finally had to resort to yelling.  "Yes, she did attack me.  But she didn't kill me."

"That's kinda obvious," the Earth-bound mutant commented. "Wanna tell me what did happen?"

"She used the same technique she always does—"

"Turning their powers against them," Autumn interrupted.

"I know how the bitch attacks," Nature growled. "Now finish telling me what happened."

"But I was prepared.  I fought my heart out and when she thought she killed me, I played dead."  By this time everyone was listening. "But…I'm blind, Red."

The tightly wound girl he'd been friends with for so long, lost her temper.  "And I tried to contact you via the link how many times?! How times didn't you answer?! And don't try to say you're sorry because I'm not going to feel any better until I kill something. And get laid.  In that order."

The other Scoobies present were interesting people.  Two of them were her best friends, and she'd known Lorne for years and officially lost her virginity to him.  Angel, Liam, was her twin brother and Gambit, Remy LeBeau, was one of his lovers. Xander Harris, Shifter, was the final member of that triad.  And Nature herself was an enigma. She had behaved herself for so long and now she was letting the pressure out.

Mystique grimaced as her half-sister shot vines from her hands, which started to choke her immediately. Autumn came in from the side, her eyes and hands both shooting red lasers.  From the other side, Gambit was throwing things he'd charged with energy, and Jesse, codenamed Weather Radar, was causing a million little bolts of lightning to shock her simultaneously. Angle had shot vines out of his hands as well and started to shake her upside down.  Lorne had stepped back to let the others do their thing and Shifter had shifted into the form of a dark-haired woman and was now helping the others by beating her into a bloody pulp.

The X-Men were stunned to say the very least as the Scoobies seemed to get tired of their game and Autumn fired one more blast from her hands.  The blue-skinned mutant was no more.  And Nature had to make her customary remark as they all shifted back out of battle-mode.  "Now can I get laid?"


	5. In which things are explained

**A/N: You know what? I just realized I can't write Gambit. Sorry, no can do. So deal with him the way he came out!**

As the last of the dust that had been the shape shifter Mystique settled, the X-Men shook their heads as though they were shaking the cobwebs out. What they saw utterly shocked all of them.  

Kitty Pryde, also known as Shadowcat, was glaring them. "Whatever happened to, 'We'll never let any mutant, good or bad, die even if it's at the hands of an enemy?'" she shrieked. "Because that is exactly what you just did. You just sat back and let people kill Mystique.  And one of them has been a student here for over two years!"

Across the room, Jesse winced at the girl's shrill voice. ::Autumn! You didn't::

"And why shouldn't I have?" the petite blonde asked, drawing herself up to her full five feet. She knew that he couldn't see the action but she was the leader and she was trying to exert her authority. "I knew what I was doing.  I'm the leader; you should be able to trust my judgment by now."

"She's right, Jesse," Willow said as she stepped over to them.  Turning to the room at large, she grimaced. "I'll submit my resignation today and get my things together."

"Why, darlin'?" Logan asked, puzzled beyond belief. He and, from the looks of things, the rest of the X-Men couldn't even recall the newcomers showing up, let alone Mystique dying.  So what in the blue hell had happened?

"Autumn controlled all your minds for a while," Xander said quietly. "Nay wouldn't have had to call us in if it weren't for the fact that you all are so damn idealistic.  As it was, Nay did the only thing she could and so did Tumn."

Jean Grey gaped at the young woman who could do something that Xavier could barely do with such ease. "Well, Professor, I think we just found the world's strongest telepath."

Xavier could only nod as he tried to come to grips with the fact that this young woman had practically turned him and his entire team into mindless robots.

Logan snapped irritably, "While that explains what happened, it doesn't explain why she's leaving."

The members of the Scooby Gang looked at each other until Gambit sighed. "Do ya have a place where Willow could 'splain bout all this?"

"Follow me," Scott said, standing up. 

*****************************

The X-Men, including Jubilee and Rogue, gathered in the library to listen to the tale. Even though it was a rather tight space with all of them there, the Scoobies stayed as far away as possible from the X-Men and vice versa. Willow simply leaned against Angel's knees as though to say, **"I belong here."**

Willow started the tale, hesitantly. "I suppose I could simply tell what happened today, but I'd be leaving out so much. So I guess we should start with introductions and then go back to the beginning."

Each of the Scoobies stood up and formed an even tighter semi-circle around her. Autumn looked at the others and started the introductions. "I'm Autumn Winters, the leader of the Scooby gang. Ten years ago myself and three other scared young children ran away from foster care.  Because of all the stress we'd lived with, we had all broken out as mutants long before we should have. Things seemed so simple back then; it was just us against the world. But even on the streets, there is no place for mutants so we started the Gang."

Angel continued the tale then, his voice blending the pain they'd gone through and the hope they'd provided to so many together. "My name's Liam Rosenberg but I'm called Angel. Like both Willow and Autumn, I was one of those four children. At first the Gang was simply people who provided a place for street mutants, who'd rescue them if need be.  We were so young, so naïve back then. To earn the money we needed, we picked pockets, sold ourselves, and did odd jobs. But then Magneto found out about us. He attacked through one of the girls we had problems trusting."

"He offered her power and trust, and Mystique Rosenberg took it. She nearly killed us all," Jesse's voice spoke of the betrayal they'd felt, nine years before. "There weren't many of us, but if she had succeeded there would have been hell.  It was then that we decided that if one of us went to Magneto's side, they would be killed the instant another Scooby saw them."

"That was Jesse Santiago the final fourth child, and I'm Xander Harris.  I wasn't one of those first four, but I ran away from home nine years ago, right around the time the Scoobies were betrayed. I found myself in L.A as the Scoobies started to change."

"Before," Willow continued the story, "we'd been peaceful, just living day to day and barely getting by. After my half sister succumbed to the other side, we changed. We all learned how to fight, to kill. We started to advertise our services as an assassination team. Soon after—"

 "Soon after," Jubilee interrupted, "they expanded their services to include demolitions. I worked on that side for awhile, sometimes helped out the assassination team."

"I knew I recognized you, chere!" Gambit exclaimed.

"Oh, good," Willow remarked. "Someone finally broke Remy's habit of referring to himself in third-person."

All of the Scoobies started to chuckle as Gambit protested, "I don't know what is so wrong with how I used to speak, chere."

"To hear you refer to yourself as Gambit or Remy was just disconcerting. I, for one, am very glad you don't do that anymore," Willow said.

"It isn't that listening to your teasing isn't fascinating, but I'd like to hear more about your…Scooby Gang," Xavier said before the teasing could get out of hand.

Lorne continued, "Over time the team kept expanding and we earned more income in a way that didn't require any of us to sell ourselves.  Along with the changes came the coupling off of pretty much everyone in the original Gang."

"Yep," Willow said with a grin, "I ended up losing my virginity to Lorne, started going out with Autumn…"

"Then we broke up as Xander and Angel decided that they were in love. Of course, then they decided that they were also in love with Remy," Autumn continued.

"Right before Willow disappeared, Faith and I started realizing that we were falling in love," Jesse added.

"Now we just have to figure out people to set Lorne, Autumn, and Willow up with," Angel said with a smirk.

Charles Xavier could only shake his head in amazement. These people were all mentally older than they should have been because of the way they'd grown up, but somehow, they were acting even more childish than Logan and Scott back when they were fighting over Jean. Good riddance.

A/N: Well, whatcha think? Please read and review. Also, thanks go out to everyone that has reviewed. Thank you!!!!!


	6. What the boys don't know won't hurt them

**A/N: Alright, people, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this is _AU!  NO YELLING AT ME!_**

**Anyways, people just can't get the pairings through their heads so here they are:**

**Jesse/Faith**

**Xander/Remy/Angel**

**Buffy (a.k.a **_Autumn_**)****/?**

**Future Willow/Rogue (Thank you, Catlimere)**

**Bobby/?**

**Lorne/?**

**Jean/Logan**

**Scott/?**

**Cordy (Seer)/?**

**Spike/?**

**Alright, so there's the pairings for now, some may change, or they might not. I haven't made up my mind yet. Also, please remember that Buffy used to be Beth Summers, then she was Buffy Summers and then she was Autumn Winters. If you have suggestions on pairings, please either email me or leave them in your review.  Also, tell me if there is anyone you want to particularly see in the story.  And Cordy MIGHT show up.  Who knows, I haven't decided.**

The X-Men watched the small gang of street mutants curl into themselves, bodies pressed together as though they never wanted to loose contact. Jean was, amazingly enough, the first to break the silence. "I know I should care more about the revelations of today, but there's just something about Autumn that really disturbs me.  It's just this nagging feeling that I've seen her face before, some how."

Scott nodded. "I know exactly what you mean, Jean.  I've seen her before, too.  If I didn't know better…" His voice trailed off as he realized what he'd almost said. Cyclops had never told his team about the little sister he hadn't seen in over thirteen years, the little sister that, he supposed, was dead. Autumn reminded him so strongly of Beth with her little quirk of smirking instead of smiling. And then there was the last name she'd given them… 

"If you didn't know better than what, Scott?" Bobby asked.  Somewhere along the line Bobby had joined the conference.  Why still wasn't certain, but for some reason it seemed important that he stay. For his part, Bobby couldn't help but draw his own comparisons between the petite blonde mutant that answered to Autumn, and an auburn-haired girl he hadn't seen in eleven years. If either Iceman or Cyclops could have seen into each other's thoughts at that exact moment, like Autumn was currently doing, they would have passed out from shock. 

"It's nothing, Drake."

For the truth of the matter was that Autumn had always had strong reasons for not going near Xavier's and not all of it was the issues she had with the X-Men's idealism. Two of her reasons were talking right in front of her face, not realizing that she was still awake. And neither had ever made the connection between the two families they'd grown up with. 

Scott Summers had been the oldest son, the first child, of Alicia and Michael Summers.  He could still recall the expression on his youngest sibling's face as she was dragged away.  He could still hear the echo of that long ago scream.  And he'd never forget the disgust in Alicia's voice when she realized that she didn't only have one freakish offspring.  She had two. 

Bobby Drake had been Hank and Joyce Summers' second foster child.  He'd also been the only one the state had allowed them to keep. He, too, still had nightmares about the terror evident in a little auburn-haired girl's face.  She'd come to his family with the birth name of Elisabeth, his mom had often told him.  He'd only been three when his parents died and he was separated from his brother.  The little girl called Beth had been six when he arrived. Back then, he couldn't pronounce the name Beth and it ended up sounding a lot like Buffy. No one was certain how, but the strange nickname had stuck. 

Then Hank and Joyce tried to adopt Buffy and the state started to stonewall them.  Finally the adoption hearing arrived and they'd entered that courthouse so certain that Buffy would soon be their daughter legally and not just by how they felt. They'd walked out knowing they'd never see her again. 

Her birth parents had stood on that stand and told the whole world that they hated their daughter…but that they didn't want her raised by people who were so liberal. Liberal, Bobby couldn't help but mentally snort. Just because they were like everyone else in the damn country and believed that mutants were people too.

The judge had ruled that the barely seven year-old Elisabeth Summers would be entering the foster system. Like Bobby had said, he'd never seen her again.

All this ran through Autumn's mind, and it took all the willpower that she possessed to keep from crying. She had just assumed that they hadn't cared, just like her birth parents and nothing could have been farther from the truth. When she was feeling like it, she wanted to have a heart to heart with both of her brothers.  Until then, she'd settle for scaring a year off their lives.

"You know," she said popping up, "it isn't polite to talk about a person behind their backs."

"Ahhhh!" the three screamed together. They really hadn't realized that she was stirring and this had taken them by surprise. 

"Hush," she cautioned. "My team doesn't get a lot of sleep without having to deal with newbies, or some crisis that has to be averted.  And it doesn't help that since Nature's been gone, Remy, Xander, and Angel haven't slept that well. Come on, I need to discuss things with the three of you and the guy with the claws away from this lot."

The shell-shocked X-Men just nodded and followed. The quartet never even noticed the red-head that sighed as they left. _Dios, they aren't even connecting.  I know that this is your Will and all, but she's missed them for so long. Let their reunion be a happy one when she finally tells them. Just…please let it. Amen._  The prayer was in Spanish, the language that most of the Scoobies had learned first although Angel and Nature, the two rich Jewish kids from Montana, had only learned Spanish after entering foster care.

****************************************************************************************************************

As it seemed to be his habit lately, Scott ushered the other four into the small, private library.  "Well, Autumn, what did you want to discuss?"

She flinched at the frosty tone before she could remind herself that this wasn't her big brother.  No more than the man Alex had grown up to be was probably the Alex she recalled. "I know that ya'll are wondering why we haven't left yet.  To be honest, we would have. But one of the girls in the Gang, Seer, she gets visions.  We think that it's her mutant ability but since it's not like anything we've ever seen, we aren't positive.  But back to the topic, she saw members of the Gang, mainly the original Scoobies, helping ya'll out. If we're to help you out, that means reaching peace."

Jean nodded since her reasoning was sound logic. "It might help if we understand what your powers are."

"I guard my powers very carefully," Autumn said with a frown. "Very few know all of my powers and even if they think they do, they tend not to. I am a strong telepath as you saw yesterday.  I can also shoot laser beams out of my eyes and hands although I rarely use that power."

By then, everyone's jaws were on the floor. "Willow and Angel derive their powers from the earth. You know most of Willow's powers already, and I suppose all I can add is to watch out for both Willow and Angel's vines. Also, Angel's powers are different only because he can also heal people using his power. Xander shape shifts but unlike Mystique, can use their powers while in the form. Gambit charges things with pure energy, which causes them to explode. Faith is also codenamed Slayer. She has extraordinary strength, agility, and speed. She also has extremely fast healing and hyper senses.  Lorne teleports and Jesse controls lighting and radar. As a rule, he tends to scramble the two together, hence the nickname Weather Radar."

**A/N: Well, what do you think? Please review or send me an email at arwen_ot_ls@yahoo.com. I'll try to update again soon. Also if anyone's been waiting for more on Family's Family, No Matter Which Way You Spin It, sorry about the wait.  I'm just really busy and this is the fic I'm concentrating on. And I'm extremely sorry if this chapter sucks. It's two in the morning.  I've typing for three hours straight. **


	7. Family

They stood at the entrance to the Danger Room, each shifting slightly. None of them felt that they belonged here, among the mob of parents and students. 

It had been two weeks time since Autumn had sought Logan, Jean, Scott, and Bobby out. Not long afterwards, the professor had tested all of their powers and about died from shock.  It was only then that any of the X-Men realized how lucky they were that the Gang was on the side of good.  Years of assassination work had honed the Scooby Gang's powers until they were each able to approach, attack, and kill in under two minutes.

The two teams, each so different but now forced to work together, had headed out on a mission to collect a new student the week before that hadn't gone exactly as they'd thought it would. Xander had come along with the X-Men because Autumn had begged off. All of the Scoobies knew the reason, knew that she didn't want to be around her two brothers any longer than absolutely necessary.  As far as the X-Men were concerned, she was suffering from some extremely bad cramps.  Therefore, she wasn't there to see Xander about pass out from the shock of seeing the man who had once beaten him to a bloody pulp doing the exact same thing to a boy of about ten.  There was no doubt in any of their minds that this was the new mutant, especially after he shifted into a small ice cube.   After Xander launched himself at his father, the other members of the team coaxed the boy, whose name was Harry, into shifting back into his normal form. 

Xander and his younger brother had been training constantly to control his power.  Besides that, it gave them an excuse to bond and get to know each other. As it turned out, Harry had been born just three months after Xander had left.  Who knew that Xander really loved kids?

Now it was Parents Night, the night when all the parents who knew about what the school really was (which for the first time was all of the parents) came to visit. Autumn hadn't wanted to come and neither had Lorne; however, Willow had just dragged their asses out of their respective rooms.  As she approached her family, she grinned and said, "Well, at least they weren't fucking each other."

The other Scoobies snickered, and their laughter only grew as some of the parents entering the Danger Room looked horrified. As the last of the parents made their way into the Room, the Scoobies took their places alongside the X-Men in the first two rows of chairs.  

In the third row, Bobby Drake's parents shuffled in their seats waiting for the introductions that Bobby had told them would happen.  They didn't know it but the blonde sitting two rows in front of them would knock their world upside down again.  After they lost Buffy, Hank and Joyce had almost gotten a divorce until they recalled that they still loved each other despite the sadness they felt over losing her.

"It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to our annual Parents Night.  As you all know, this is a school for mutants, but it's really no different from any other boarding school.   There are certain members of this school that don't have their parents here, over which I'm saddened.  All these years and there are still people who are narrow minded enough that they disown their children. Now without any longer of a speech," at this remark all of the students cheered, "I would like each X-Men, Scooby Gang member, or student to stand up and introduce their parents who are to stand up also when it's their turn. Please tell your powers and something about yourself.  Any questions?"  When none came, Xavier continued. "Good. Autumn may start."

Autumn stood up hesitantly. "My name is Autumn Winters; I'm the leader of the Scooby Gang, which is a mutant street gang that is currently helping the X-Men out.   My powers include telepathy and shooting lasers out of my hands and eyes. I'm eighteen."

Willow stood next, and in a strong voice said, "I'm Willow.  My codename for the X-Men is Forest and my name in the Scooby Gang is Nature.  I control vegetation. Like Autumn, I'm 18.  My only family is the Gang and my brother Angel who will introduce himself shortly."

Bobby was next and was nearly as hesitant as Autumn. "I'm Bobby Drake. My codename is Iceman for obvious reasons. My parents are right there," he pointed as they stood up, "and their names are Hank and Joyce Summers. I'm 15 and a little known fact about me is that I used to have an older sister named Buffy."

"Wait a second," Lorne said standing up. "I thought Scott was the one with the last name of Summers?"

"Yeah," Angel stated from next to him. "Or did Tumn give us the wrong post-it again?"

The entire Gang, minus Autumn, giggled as they remembered the time that Tumn had given them their orders on a post-it note only to realize at the very last minute that they'd received the demolitions crew's orders. The incident had happened four years before, so it was after Jubilee had left. 

Not surprisingly, Willow had had enough. ::Autumn Anne Winters tell them all ready.::

"No, I won't," Tumn said firmly.

"Tell who what?" Bobby asked, wondering how this conversation had started and what post-its had to do with anything.

"Never mind," Autumn spat out. "I'm headed back to my room because I'm not explaining it."

"Fine," Willow returned. "I'll tell them."

"No, you won't.  I would have left before today or at least stayed away but you wouldn't let me. I'm Autumn, not Elisabeth, and don't TELL THEM!!"

"Elisabeth what?" Scott asked, standing up. Bobby's family seemed to be extra attentive as well.

Willow knew that her former girlfriend had no intention of answering, and also knew she was the only one who knew any of Autumn's secrets let alone all of them. So she answered for her. "Haven't you wondered why Tumn's main power is so similar to yours? Or are you as easily snowed as she **didn't **think you would be? Bobby, haven't you wondered why she stays so far away from you? Or from you, Scooter?" She purposefully used Logan's hated nickname for Scott, just to piss him off.

"Are you figuring it out yet?  Hank and Joyce have." They had too, she could see it in their eyes.

Xavier had had enough of the three ring circus. "As much as this drama is fascinating, could we return to the introductions?"

"I'm sorry Professor," Willow said sweetly. "It's just that when Scott was ten years old, his five year old sister was abandoned by his mother.  His aunt and uncle took her in.  A year later they took in an orphaned boy named Bobby and apparently he remembers what happened the next year when they tried to adopt Elisabeth called Buffy for short.  She ended up in foster care because of her damned biological parents.  After a couple of bad foster fathers, she ran away with the rest of us.  You know her as Autumn Winters."

Everyone's mouths hung open as the girl who normally obeyed orders talked back to Xavier. Well, everyone's but Autumn. She was too busy screaming at Wills in Spanish. _It's a simple request. Just one fucking request. And what do you do? You fucking tell them!_

_They deserved to know Tumn. I know you aren't Elisabeth Summers anymore but you are still their sister and their daughter. And you know that both of your brothers think of you all the time. _

"Girls, no more Spanish.  And go to the library to reunite," Angel instructed sharply. "Xand, Lorne, Remy, and I will be there in a minute. Wills should be there with you and your…extended family.  Everyone else has absolutely no reason to be there."

**A/N: Well? How is it? Review please!  Also, I need to know which one of my four fics to update first. To be honest, I just update as the ideas come, but if someone has a firm preference, I'll update that first.  **

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Also, I know someone requested B/S but I don't do that pairing.  I rarely even read it, truth be told. Sorry.**


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